People have always been very interested in stories about a parent getting revenge. Movies like Taken set the standard: a father who is determined to catch criminals to save or get revenge on his child. These stories often look at human flaws and make us think about our own choices, in addition to the action and suspense. Netflix’s 180 goes in a similar direction.
It’s a simple idea: a father goes after the men who killed his son. These guys are dishonest street thugs, and even the police, who are supposed to uphold the law, are corrupt. The father takes matters into his own hands when the system breaks down, which leads to a series of events that make him face his own actions.
The movie is about Zak, his wife Portia, and their son Mandla. Zak runs a few burger places and lives a pretty stable life with his brother Zuko and their families. In the beginning, Zak drives Mandla through dangerous streets where he has to deal with criminals all the time. The first close call ends without any problems, but the second one does.
A heated argument gets worse after a taxi driven by two thugs hits a car. One of the men accidentally pulls the trigger on a gun, and the bullet kills Mandla. The story then turns into a tense emotional and mental journey as the family deals with their grief and anger.
Portia doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but her presence is strong. She does a great job of playing both a grieving mother and a frustrated wife, and she adds emotional depth to every scene she’s in.
Zak, on the other hand, is shown to be rash and quick-tempered. He takes the law into his own hands when the authorities don’t do their jobs, and all he wants is to get back at the people who hurt his son.
The pace is mostly steady, but some scenes go on longer than they need to to make the emotional impact stronger. The acting is generally good, and the movie does a good job of telling the story through pictures. The scenes are full of color when Mandla is alive, which shows warmth and normalcy. After he dies, the colors change to softer black, white, and gray tones, which makes the characters feel even more lost and empty.
This way of looking at things goes on throughout the movie. For example, the police station is mostly cold, steel-grey colors, which stand for both boredom and the slow, frustrating nature of justice in a corrupt system.
In the end, 180 is a simple thriller that sticks to themes that are well-known. It doesn’t do anything new, but it does a good job of showing issues of power, corruption, and city life in an African setting. It is still a good choice for people who want to watch a simple story about revenge.
